FC St. Pauli

Jos Luhukay made four changes to the side that won at VfB Lübeck in the DFB Cup last week, Kevin Lankford, Niklas Hoffmann, Florian Carstens and Finn Ole Becker, the latter back from a calf problem, all coming into the starting lineup. Marc Hornschuh, Christopher Buchtmann, Waldemar Sobota and Viktor Gyökeres, all of whom started at Lübeck, dropped to the bench. In tactical terms Luhukay switched from a 3-5-2 to a 4-4-2 formation, with Lankford partnering Dimitrios Diamantakos up front. Absent from the squad was Jan-Philipp Kalla, who was given permission to stay in Hamburg to celebrate the birth of a baby girl. Congratulations, Schnecke! 

The game got off to a lively start, with the home side enjoying the lion's share of the possession. Accordingly, it was they who conjured up the first attempts on goal, Gonzalo Castro heading well over in the second minute and Pascal Stenzel curling a shot wide from 20 metres on 12.

With the home side dominating the play, the Boys in Brown adopted a defensive strategy that also saw them attempt to break forward quickly down the flanks whenever the opportunity presented itself. Møller Dæhli was proving a particular thorn in Stuttgart's side and he made his presence felt in spectacular fashion in the 18^th minute. Pacy wingman Christian Conteh wrongfooted four defenders on the left before cutting the ball back to the Norwegian, who was perfectly placed to sidefoot into the far corner from just inside the box. One-nil!

The early goal knocked Stuttgart out of their stride and the Boys in Brown fashioned two more chances soon after. Conteh fired just wide from just outside the box on 23, and Møller Dæhli also missed the target two minutes later. The home side mustered their first attempt on target through Santiago Ascacíbar in the 27^th minute, his header flying straight into the arms of Robin Himmelmann in the St. Pauli goal.

Stuttgart rallied in the final quarter of an hour and registered more than 70 percent possession. That didn't stop the Boys in Brown probing, however, and they threatened Gregor Kobel's goal not once but three times just before the break. Unfortunately, neither Carstens nor Møller Dæhli nor Conteh were able to convert their chances into goals.

The home side continued to dictate the play after the restart, with Jos Luhukay's side again happy to sit back and wait for a chance to strike on the break. Mario Gomez headed wide from Daniel Didavi's cross four minutes in, and then Dimitrios Diamantakos had a great opportunity to double the advantage, only for Holger Badstuber to get across and block the shot with a last-ditch lunge. 

Tim Walter's men cranked up the pressure another notch and with 52 minutes on the clock Marc Oliver Kempf tested Himmelmann with a powerfully struck shot from distance, but the keeper was equal to it and turned the ball over the bar. Kempf was not to be denied, however, and when Castro cut a corner back on the hour, the Stuttgart captain was on hand to sweep home the equaliser from 12 metres. 

The action intensified in the final 20 minutes, with Stuttgart throwing everything at it in an attempt to find a winner, only to be thwarted by the resolute St. Pauli defence or their own failings, as in the 70^th minute, when Gonzales produced an air shot when looking odds on to score, allowing Daniel Buballa and Carstens to clear the danger.

Nine minutes later the home side carved out another excellent opportunity. Gonzales delivered the ball into the danger area, where it met the thigh of Didavi and flew a whisker past the left-hand upright. That was close and the inevitable happened two seconds before the end of regulation time when Borna Sosa broke down the left and crossed into the middle for Gonzales to fire home from close range. Heartbreak for the Boys in Brown, who were denied their rightful reward for a battling, tactically astute display.

VfB Stuttgart

Kobel – Stenzel, Badstuber, Kempf (Phillips 73'), Sosa – Karazor – Ascacíbar, Castro – Didavi – Al Ghaddioui (Klimowicz 77'), Gomez (Gonzales 51')

Head coach: Tim Walter

FC St. Pauli

Himmelmann – Carstens, Hoffmann, Knoll, Buballa - Miyaichi, Møller Dæhli (Buchtmann 64'), Becker, Conteh (Sobota 78') – Lankford, Diamantakos (Gyökeres 61')

Head coach: Jos Luhukay


Goals: 0-1 Møller Dæhli (18'), 1-1 Kempf (60'), 2-1 Gonzales (90')             

Yellow cards: Carstens, Sobota

Referee: Guido Winkmann

Attendance: 53,315


Photos: Witters